An Oklahoma mother was arrested after her 1-year-old girl died.
The baby was struggling to breathe, Tiffani Paul told 911 dispatchers when she called on Feb. 18. Paul had twins and told police officers later that the girl was the more difficult of the pair because she cried the most, while describing the male twin as an “easy” baby who didn’t cry, according to an affidavit obtained by the Tulsa World.
Paul originally told officers that the baby slipped in the bathtub and hit her head on a towel rack. She said that the girl fell face first on a toy fire truck a few days later.
But officers said the described events weren’t consistent with the girl’s severe head injuries, as one pediatrician wrote the injuries were consistent with something “violently striking [the baby’s] head,” leading to a second interview with Paul, during which she changed her story and said she dropped the baby down five or six steps.
Later, she said that she actually told police that she threw the girl into a wall weeks before her daughter died.
When asked why she did that, she responded: “I don’t know. I’m just tired,” reported News 6.
The little girl was treated in a hospital but died on Feb. 19.
Paul was arrested at 10 p.m. on Feb. 20 and was being held in lieu of $550,000 in bonds.
Infant Allegedly Abused by Babysitter
In another case, an abused infant who is being treated at the hospital after his mother’s boyfriend was arrested for alleged child abuse has severe brain and neck injuries, according to a newly released probable cause affidavit.
Kaleb Eisenmann, 20, was arrested for a first-degree felony and booked into the Parker County Jail in Fort Worth, Texas, after allegedly abusing Jax, a 7-week-old baby.
Eisenmann was dating Jax’s mother.
According to an affidavit obtained by WFAA, Eisenmann became “frustrated with the baby.” Officers wrote that he “jerked the baby up out of an infant swing too hard.”
The sudden movement caused “the infant’s head to jerk back.” Eisenmann then allegedly put the baby in his bed “really kind of hard.”
Because of those three movements, the baby suffered a brain injury and a neck injury “consistent with the infant’s head being jerked back and forth in a forceful manner,” officers wrote. The baby also had bruising along his waistline.
According to investigators, Eisenmann admitted to moving Jax suddenly but said, “I didn’t slam him in the bed. But I put him down really kind of hard.”
Child Abuse
According to a report published by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (pdf), approximately 3.5 million children nationwide in 2016 were the subjects of at least one maltreatment reports to authorities.
“Child abuse is one of the nation’s most serious concerns,” the authors of the report wrote in the introduction. About 17 percent of those reports were substantiated; the department said that there were an estimated 676,000 victims of child abuse and neglect, or 9.1 victims per 1,000 children.
Children in their first year of life had the highest rate of victimization at 24.8 per 1,000 children.
About three-quarters of the cases were neglect, while about 18 percent were physical abuse. Some children suffered from multiple forms of maltreatment.
Of the perpetrators of the abuse, more than four-fifths were between the ages of 18 and 44, and more than half were women.
If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, contact your local child protective services office or law enforcement agency so officials can investigate and assess the situation. Most states have a number to call to report abuse or neglect.
“Every year more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies involving more than 6.6 million children (a referral can include multiple children),” according to Childhelp.
To find out where to call, consult the State Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Numbers website. The Childhelp organization can also provide crisis assistance and other counseling and referral services. Contact them at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).
